The whole 30

I've been spending a bit of time researching the Paleo way of life - particularly the paleo way of eating, and I keep hearing about the "whole 30". I stumbled upon this website http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/ and have read all about how to go about it.

I don't think it will be all that hard, because I have been grain free and mostly sugar free for some time.But I am not dairy free - I really do like to eat homemade yogurt. However, the thinking is that dairy, even the fermented kind, isn't good for regulating hormones, and for the inflammatory response, which is what I'm really interested in ( having had the diagnosis of an underlying, unknown auto-immune disease). I hope to keep  it away by adopting the paleo lifestyle, and hopefully, sticking to it.

So, there's no more excuses (because Christmas and New Year are over, and I have 3 weeks of holidays before I am back at work - long enough to establish the whole 30.

In a nut-shell, here's what is involved (but please pop over to the web-site to find out the details):

• Eat real food: meat, seafood,eggs, tonnes of vegetables, some fruit,plenty of good fats from fruit,nuts,oils and seeds.
• Eat food with very few ingredients, unprocessed is best.
• Do Not eat any sugar - real or artificial
• Do Not consume alcohol
• No grain - NONE- no quinoa,amaranth,buckwheat,corn etc.
• No legumes, definitely no soy, but green beans, sugar snap and snow peas are okay
• No dairy (this will be hard for me) - not even fermented dairy like yogurt. Only clarified butter and Ghee.
• No white potatoes (another difficult one for me)
• No malted or sweetened vinegar, but all others are fine
• Exceptions of processed food are : coconut milk/cream, applesauce,tomato sauce (without added sugar), chicken broth, bottled olives.

So, with that in mind, I will need to organise meals that suit me, and the whole family. I'm leaning more and more towards getting the whole family to eat a more Paleo style diet. I think it will help them get over their niggling ailments, which though not too bad, they could do without. The girls sometimes suffer from  mysterious stomach cramps. They might be related to hormones, I can't be sure, but maybe a better diet will help. Charlie suffers from itchy eczema, and I'd love him to be rid of it. I've also noticed that they are all a bit addicted to sugar and carbohydrates. I know how bad these things are for my body, and I'd like to save them from the gamut of chronic illnesses I've suffered over the years, which are more than likely related to my love of all things sweet and white.

I realise going "cold turkey" for the kids will be really hard, but if I offer them a whole lot of yummy food that is grain and sugar free, perhaps they'll be convinced? It remains to be seen.

So, I'm going to try and keep track of my 30 days - I'll try to write often, and will let you know what is on the menu.

Although I am starting today , I didn't start til after breakfast - as I had stewed apricots for breakfast, which did have sugar in it. They were very delicious though!

Lunch today will be a big salad as I have a fridge full of goodies after the markets yesterday, and I'll probably eat that with a small can of salmon or sardines, some lemon juice and oil. I'll follow up with some fruit if I feel peckish.

Tonight we'll barbecue some steak and have some roasted vegetable and a cabbage salad.

Wish me luck!